Safety and protection device for an industrial door

ABSTRACT

A safety and protection device for a raisable-curtain goods-handling door ( 1 ) has a flexible curtain including a single sheet fitted with at least one raising strap ( 10 ) disposed against the outside of the curtain, the device having an apron ( 7 ) placed against the curtain on the same face of the curtain as the straps, to cover the door from the vicinity of its bottom up to a height that is at least sufficient to provide the desired type of protection, and over a width that is at least sufficient to cover the straps, the apron being capable of being fixed to the curtain in such a manner as to avoid impeding the movements of the strap.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a safety and protection device for anindustrial and/or goods-handling door of the raisable type and that isprovided with at least one strap placed against the door.

Industrial and/or goods-handling doors are doors installed in factories,warehouses, all kinds of hangar, supermarkets, public places, etc. forseparating spaces and workshops from one another or for isolating themfrom the outside so as to maintain temperature, avoid propagatingdrafts, noise, etc. Raisable doors are organized to be opened and thenreclosed quickly by being raised and lowered so as to allow people orvehicles of any kind such as trucks, carts, etc. to pass through. Thesedoors are constituted by curtains made up of flexible or rigid panelsthat are rolled up or that are folded up at the top of the door. Fold-updoors are actuated by straps which lift the panels. Roll-up doors do notuse straps for operating purposes, but they can have straps for specialfunctions: detecting obstacles, monitoring tension in the curtain,consolidation, etc.

A strap is constituted by a cable or tape made of textile or othermaterial that is strong and capable of being rolled up on a suitabledrum. An object of the invention is to protect straps againstaccidentally catching on equipment that is traveling too close to thedoor, or to prevent them from catching on people located too close tothe door, since that could be dangerous for such people.

Certain fold-up doors, such as those described in the followingpublications: CH-A-523 394, FR-A-2 274 775, and FR-A-2 614 924, describedoors each comprising a curtain constituted by two flexible verticalsheets that are parallel and connected together at the bottom of thecurtain and at various heights by horizontal stiffener elements.Traction members for raising the curtain, such as straps, are disposedbetween the two sheets. They are connected to the bottom stiffener, andthey pass through holes formed in the other stiffeners. In curtains ofthat type, the straps are located internally. They cannot be damaged byequipment traveling too close to the door, nor can they catch onto suchequipment or onto people located too close to the door.

Nevertheless, there exist very many types of door in which the strapsare disposed against one of the faces of the curtains. Such doors areless expensive. However they suffer from those above-mentioneddrawbacks: firstly they run the risk of catching on any equipmentprojecting from a truck or a cart, thereby causing the straps to bedamaged or even cut or broken. They can also be damaged deliberately byvandals. Secondly, any person or equipment passing too close, orhappening to be location against the door, can be caught by the strapand lifted when the curtain is raised. Curtain raising can be completelyunexpected since it can be triggered by a truck approaching the doorfrom the other side. This can rise give to serious accidents, unlesssome kind of prevention or protection is provided of electrical,mechanical, physical, or other type.

An object of the invention is to remedy those drawbacks and to eliminatesuch risks with the latter type of door.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a safety and protection device for araisable-curtain goods-handling door comprising a flexible curtainconstituted by a single sheet fitted with at least one raising strapdisposed in removable manner against the outside of the curtain, thedevice being characterized in that it is constituted by an aprondesigned to be placed against the curtain on the same face of thecurtain as the straps, to cover the door from the vicinity of its bottomup to a height that is at least sufficient to provide the desired typeof protection, and over a width that is at least sufficient to cover thestraps, the apron being capable of being fixed to the curtain in such amanner as to avoid impeding the movements of the strap.

Advantageously, the apron fixing means are selected so as to enable theapron to be removed and put back into place simply and quickly.

The apron can be fixed to the curtain by fasteners including any of:press studs; zip fasteners; strips of hook-and-loop fasteners;snap-fasteners; screws; and the like.

In an embodiment where the curtain of the door is reinforced by at leastone horizontal stiffening bar, the apron also has a number of barscorresponding to the number of bars in the curtain over the height thatit covers. The bars of the apron are simply attached to the bars of thecurtain. If the curtain has a sheath for each bar, the sheath beingformed with a cutout to receive a piece for passing the strap, then theapron has a sheath for receiving the corresponding bar, said sheathincluding a cutout for putting in register with the cutout in the sheathof the curtain, the bar of the apron as uncovered in this way beingcapable of being attached to said piece for passing the strap by anyappropriate attachment means.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention appear from thefollowing description given with reference to the accompanying drawings,serving to make it well understood how the invention can be implemented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

In the drawings:

FIG. 1A is a fragmentary perspective view showing part of a curtainreinforced by stiffening bars received in sheaths, together with part ofan apron in register therewith and constituted by a sheet reinforced bybars that are likewise received in sheaths;

FIG. 1B shows a variant of the device of FIG. 1A in which a specialpiece is provided for attaching the apron to the curtain;

FIG. 2 is a section view through a curtain of the type shown in FIG. 1,provided with an apron of the type shown in FIG. 1, and shows, in thefolded state, a segment of the curtain extending between two reinforcingbars;

FIG. 3 is a section view through a portion of door curtain with areinforcing bar that is fixed to the curtain without using a sheath,being of the type described in the Applicant's European patent No. 0 551784; and

FIG. 4 is a view analogous to FIG. 3 for showing Another type of curtainreinforcing bar.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An apron of the invention can be fixed simply to the curtain against theflexible curtain itself, preferably by means that are simple to do andundo: press studs; zip fasteners; fasteners of the Velcro type(registered trademark); snap-fastening means; screws; or the like. Sincethe apron is placed against the curtain on its side where it has atleast one strap, it is essential to allow the strap to move by placingthe attachment means correctly, but that does not present any difficultyfor the person skilled in the art.

For a fold-up curtain that is reinforced by stiffening bars, the curtainfolds along the bars, or along some of them (e.g. every other bar). Itcan then be advantageous to make the apron with its own stiffening bars,which are fixed to the stiffening bars of the curtain. It is alsopossible to make the apron without any stiffening bars. Examples aredescribed below.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a portion of the curtain 1 of a fold-updoor which is reinforced by a bar 2 received in a sheath 3 which isformed, by way of example, by fitting a strip of suitable sheet materialwhich is stuck, welded, or sewn to the curtain. In such a curtain, inorder to guide the strap, strap-guides 4 are engaged on the bar, andeach strap-guide is located in an opening 5 formed through the sheath. Awell known type of strap-guide is in the form of a D-shape having ahandle portion 41. The strap 10 (FIG. 2) passes through the D-shape andthe curtain operates in well known manner. The apron of the invention isitself constituted by a sheet 7 of suitable material, transparent if sorequired, thereby making it possible to see the curtain and the strapthat it protects. The apron is reinforced by bars 8 which are receivedin sheaths 9 at the same spacing as the reinforcing bars of the curtain.Cutouts 11 are formed in the sheaths of the apron in register with thecutouts formed in the sheaths of the curtain for the strap-guides. It isthen simple to fix the bars of the apron to the D-shapes 44 of thestrap-guides, by any type of commercially-available attachment 12 (seeFIG. 2). In this example, it can be seen that an apron of the inventioncan be placed on a door of this type without requiring the slightestmodification to be made to the door.

The fixing of FIG. 1B is obtained by means of a strap-guide 43 whoseD-shape 44 is formed to have a portion that constitutes a tube 45. Theassembly made up in this way is simple, reliable, and pleasing inappearance.

FIG. 2 is a section on a vertical plane perpendicular to the curtainthrough the middle of a strap-guide, with the curtain being shown in itsraised and folded-up position after an apron has been fixed to thecurtain in the manner described above with reference to FIG. 1A. Thefolds of the curtain fall on one side of the strap (to the left in thefigure), while the folds of the apron fall to the other side thereof. Itwill be observed that by being present the apron not only protects thestrap, but also serves to prevent any object or arm (e.g. belonging to aperson leaning against the curtain) from being trapped and drawn into afold of the curtain.

The apron is advantageously put into place starting from the bottom ofthe curtain and extending up to a desired height, e.g. about 2 meters soas to protect people. It could extend higher, for example if there is arisk of catching on a fork of a forklift truck at some greater height.In terms of width, it is preferable for the apron to extend between theuprights of the door without it being necessary for it to penetratetherein, unless that should be of some special use in a particularapplication.

It will be understood that such an apron can be delivered with a newdoor, or can be installed on any existing door. The invention makes itpossible to obtain a high level of safety with means that are simple.The apron also provides simultaneously improved sound and heatinsulation. To this end, a door can be fitted with an apron that coversthe entire surface area of the door, e.g. in winter.

FIG. 3 is a section view on a vertical plane perpendicular to the doorthrough a strap for a door of the type described in European patent No.0 551 784. Each bar is made up of two half-bars 21 and 22 pressed oneagainst the other and clamping the curtain between them. In thisexample, the curtain is made up of a plurality of panels 23, 24 whoseoverlapping edges are clamped together between pairs of half-bars. Eachbar has portions of greater thickness 25 located in suitable positions,and where appropriate over its entire length, and pierced by channels 26for passing respective straps. In this example, it suffices to fix theapron to the portions of extra thickness 25, e.g. by means of pressstuds. The apron should not have reinforcing bars. Nevertheless, if thenumber of portions of extra thickness 25 is not sufficient, then it ispreferable to provide fixing bars.

Another example is shown in FIG. 4 which is likewise a section view on avertical plane perpendicular to a fold-up curtain 30 and passing throughthe fixing for a strap-guide. The reinforcing bar 31 is received in asheath formed with a strip 32 suitably fixed to the curtain 30.

The sheath is not opened for the purpose of fixing a strap-guide. Eachstrap-guide is in the form of a D-shape 35 secured to a half-sleeve 36.The half-sleeve is fixed to the bar 31 through the curtain 30. The aproncan then be fixed to the D-shape 35, with or without its own fixing bar,depending on circumstances.

The apron can be fixed to a part other than a strap-guide that isalready in place. It is possible to use any number of analogous partsthat are not used to guide straps and that are placed along the bar.

The device of the invention is simple and low cost to make and install.It can also be used (e.g. in winter) to seal screens that are piercedwith ventilation holes, such as anti-wear screens, for example. Easyinstallation and removal enable the apron to be put into place quickly,and also to be removed for the purpose of access, adaptation, etc.

What is claimed is:
 1. A safety and protection device for a raisablecurtain door, comprising: a flexible curtain constituted by a singlesheet fitted with at least one raising strap disposed against an outsideface of the flexible curtain and having at least one first horizontalstiffening bar received in at least one first sheath, the at least onefirst sheath having at least one first cutout for receiving astrap-passing part; and an apron covering the flexible curtain from avicinity of a bottom of the flexible curtain up to a height thatprovides a desired amount of protection for the at least one raisingstrap, and over a width that is at least sufficient to cover the atleast one raising strap, the apron having at least one second horizontalstiffening bar, the at least one second horizontal stiffening bar beingattached to the strap-passing part by a fastening assembly at anuncovered portion provided by the at least one first cutout.
 2. Thesafety and protection device of claim 1, wherein the fastening assemblyis configured to attach the apron to the flexible curtain; and whereinthe fastening assembly is configured to remove the apron from theflexible curtain.
 3. The safety and protection device of claim 1,wherein the fastening assembly comprises at least one of press studs,zip fasteners, strips of hook-and-loop fasteners, snap-fasteners, andscrews.
 4. The safety and protection device of claim 1, wherein thefastening assembly is fixed to the at least one second horizontal bar,and wherein the fastening assembly is configured to fix the at least onesecond horizontal bar to the at least one first horizontal bar.
 5. Thesafety and protection device of claim 1, wherein the apron has at leastone second sheath configured to receive the at least one secondhorizontal bar, the at least one second sheath having at least onesecond cutout to uncover a portion of the second horizontal bar; andwherein the at least one second cutout is placed in register with the atleast one first cutout to facilitate attaching the at least one secondhorizontal bar to the strap-passing part by the fastening assembly. 6.The safety and protection device of claim 1, wherein the at least onefirst horizontal stiffening bar has means for retaining and passing theat least one raising strap; and wherein the apron is fixed to the meansfor retaining and passing the at least one raising strap.
 7. The safetyand protection device of claim 6, wherein the at least one secondhorizontal stiffening bar is fixed to the means for retaining andpassing the at least one raising strap.
 8. A goods-handling doorprovided with the safety and protection device of claim 1.